$491 Billion Defense Bill Passes, But Amendment Fails

May 26, 2005|By David Lerman, dlerman@tribune.com | (202) 824-8224

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers reject a delay in military base closures and agree to shelve new restrictions on women.

The House easily defeated a measure aimed at delaying the current round of military base closings, as senior lawmakers warned Wednesday it is too late to abandon a closure process that is well underway.

By a lopsided margin of 316 to 112, majorities of both political parties rejected an 11th-hour attempt to postpone any base closings for years.

Lawmakers facing base closures in such hard-hit states as New Hampshire, Connecticut and South Dakota offered an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill that would have delayed the closure process until several studies of military requirements are completed and "substantially all" major combat units in Iraq return home.

"Let's be extremely careful before closing 33 major bases and hundreds of smaller facilities," said Rep. Jeb Bradley, R-N.H., the chief sponsor of the amendment, who faces the closure of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in neighboring Maine. "This amendment ensures we exercise that necessary care and necessary restraint."

But leaders of the House Armed Services Committee of both parties said it is too late to undo a politically painful process aimed at saving billions of dollars in future years.

Virginia Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake, an opponent of base closure last year, said he would oppose any delay this time because the process has already begun. His district would gain more than 7,300 jobs at Fort Lee, near Petersburg.

"I had hopes that last year we could delay the process," said Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., a senior committee member who previously opposed base closure.

"I think it's too late now. The train has left the station."

Among Virginia lawmakers, Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-Gloucester, and Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-Newport News, both said they would vote to delay the base-closure effort. Davis has said she remains opposed to base closure because the nation is at war.

Scott said Wednesday he would vote to delay the process in hopes of delaying the proposed closure of Fort Monroe in Hampton. But even before the vote, he knew it was a virtually futile cause.

"There's no question the amendment will not pass," he said. The focus now, he added, would be on trying to get the closure recommendation overturned by the independent commission appointed by the president to review all Pentagon proposals.

The defeated base-closure amendment was part of a $491 billion defense bill to authorize all military programs and weapons systems for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

Before approving the bill, committee leaders agreed to scrap a controversial measure aimed at restricting the number of jobs open to women in the Army who serve combat units.

Army policy already forbids women from serving in direct ground combat, but some female soldiers serve in combat support units that assist troops on the front lines.

The war in Iraq, however, has blurred the distinction between "front line" troops and support units, as the insurgency continues to wage guerrilla warfare with homemade bombs planted along roads and elsewhere. The role of women in support units could affect female troops at Fort Eustis who are responsible for ferrying supplies to troops stationed in Iraq.

The House also approved an amendment by Davis aimed at ensuring the Boy Scouts can continue to use military bases. The annual Boy Scout Jamboree is held at Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County, in Davis's district.

The amendment, approved 413 to 16, came in response to a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, which sought to restrict the Boy Scouts from federal property because of the scouts' allegiance to God. The ACLU argues the Scouts' use of federal property violates the separation of church and state.

Davis said the Boy Scouts deserve "equal access to federal facilities" and represent "all that is good in our society: faith, family, country." *

HOW VIRGINIA VOTED

The 390-39 roll call Wednesday by which the House passed a $491 billion defense bill.

A "yes" vote was a vote to approve the bill, and a "no" vote was a vote to defeat it.